In 2005 the McKennas founded Le Musee de f.p.c., "devoted to the story of the free people of color of New Orleans, as told by their descendants.
"[3] Upon graduating with his dental degree, Stanton joined the Great Migration of African Americans from the South to the North, moving to East Chicago, Indiana.
Since the turn of the century, black Republicans in the South had mostly been excluded from voting by discriminatory laws passed by white Democrats.
In some places, they began to become active with local and state Democratic organizations, as they were disappointed at the Republican Party's failure to aid them before and during the Depression.
The 1932 election represented a historic breakthrough, because after shutting African Americans out of state politics entirely for many years, both parties had slated an African-American candidate for the Lake County seat.
[2] He and his family were members of the African Methodist Episcopal church, the first independent black denomination in the United States, founded in Philadelphia.
[2] His daughter, Beverly Stanton, married Dr. Dwight McKenna, whom she met while working in Washington, D.C., where he was completing his medical degree at Howard University.
In 2005 the McKennas founded Le Musee de f.p.c., "devoted to the story of the free people of color of New Orleans, as told by their descendants.".